This past Saturday, a group of Reading descendants, who have joined together as “The Mount Amwell Project,” gathered in Sergeantsville for one of their regular meetings. I was honored to be asked to speak to the group, and took the opportunity to try out on them a first chapter to a history of Delaware Township that focused on John Reading and his discovery of “Mount Amwell.”

For those of my readers who are interested in John Reading’s son, John Reading Jr., who briefly served as governor of New Jersey, I wish to call your attention to a book that is expected to be published this coming December by the Mount Amwell Project. It is a collection of the Journals of John Reading, which he kept from 1747 through 1753. Until now, the Journals have only been partially published by the Genealogical Society of New Jersey. This book is more complete, and even better—it has an index.

Anyone with ancestors who lived in Hunterdon County and parts north during the mid-18th century will want to check this book out. Everyone who was anyone had dealings with John Reading, or so it seems. Not only is it essential for Reading descendants, it is fascinating in its own right as a glimpse into what life was like for a wealthy man of the time, and for the people who had dealings with him, including employees.

The hard work of putting this book together was done by David K. Reading. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, I recommend visiting the Mount Amwell website and putting in a pre-publication order by sending them an email or calling or writing (contact page).